


Dance My Memories Away

by LissyArt101



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - After College/University, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: Still Have Powers, Ballet, Dancing, Developing Friendships, F/M, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Memory Related, Modern Era, One Piece Universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:53:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28952250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LissyArt101/pseuds/LissyArt101
Summary: As she was making her way past them, trying to keep to herself as much as possible she heard her name ring through the air, freezing her in her spot. Her heart thumped in her chest as she tried to remain calm, knowing that they weren’t going to ask her the ridiculous things she purposely stayed here to get away from.“Nami! Hey!” she heard.Don’t look at him, keep walking, she told herself as she tried to get her feet to move forward instead of spinning over to look at the one who called her. Her eyes met the narrowed eyes of the green haired swordsman, and the large eyes of a black haired kid who must have been the one practicing with the instructor, recognizing that slightly childlike voice, and that large smile that stretched across his face.
Relationships: Franky & Nico Robin, Franky/Nico Robin, Monkey D. Luffy & Nami, Monkey D. Luffy & Roronoa Zoro, Monkey D. Luffy & Trafalgar D. Water Law, Monkey D. Luffy/Nami, Monkey D. Luffy/Roronoa Zoro, Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates & Nami, Roronoa Zoro & Vinsmoke Sanji, Roronoa Zoro/Vinsmoke Sanji
Comments: 8
Kudos: 33





	1. Who Are You?

**Author's Note:**

> This idea suddenly popped into my head, and I thought I should at least start putting it down into a story before I forget, you know???

**Who Are You?**

Sweat dripped down her forehead as she repeated the motions once more. She could hear the ringing words in her head telling her that she was doing the motions wrong, that her foot was in the wrong spot, that everything she was doing was wrong. She tried to hold the final position for the length of time needed, but her toes hurt from upholding her weight. Her leg was tired from repeating the leaps through the air, so her muscles burned under her sweat induced skin. Maybe she should have done this in the leotard instead of the leggings and loose fitting t-shirt. Her hair was only loosely held in the hair tie at this point, and her strawberry blond locks of hair fell out to wrap around her face.

She dropped her raised arms, and leg, as she pressed her heal back to the ground. It wasn’t right. It still wasn’t right. _I don’t understand, those are the right movements, so why aren’t I getting it right!_ She made her way over to the bench at the far side of the room and picked up her water bottle. It was nearly empty. She let out a long sigh, before wiping the sweat off her brow, and turning to leave to refill her water bottle. She opened the door to the studio, and was met with the empty halls of the performing arts center. Performing arts, for lack of the the best way to describe the classes taken throughout the large multi-level building.

She made her way past the music hall, where she could hear the instructor still amusing himself as he tapped his boney fingers against the hard piano keys. A light childlike laughter was heard along the old man’s voice as he sang an old folk song barely anyone knew. The other person in the room must have also known the song though, because she could hear his off-key voice singing along with the instructor occasionally. Maybe it was a student of his, who needed a few extra vocal lessons, she assumed. The water fountain was right by the karate and kendo dojo. 

She opened the cap to her water bottle before placing it under the fountain so it could fill back up her thirty-two ounces. She heard the door to the dojo slide open but paid it no mind as she stared at her filling water bottle, still trying not to wince on the pain she was feeling on her obviously pulled muscles. To be honest, she was surprised that there were still this many people here in the building. She had stayed long after her class had finished so she could run her way through her part again, having gotten the lead role once again.

“Hey, didn’t think you’d still be around!” she heard, and nearly flinched as she thought the person was talking to her.

“There isn’t much to do otherwise, besides, he’s still goofin off in the music room.” another person answered. She hadn’t registered another person when the door to the dojo had opened.

“Fine tuning those skills then?” the other person asked.

“Yeah, well, it’s not like you have a reason to be here either.”

“I know, just waiting on somebody in the research lab.”

“You know where it’s at?”

“No, but I don’t need your help finding it.”

There was a still silence, before she heard “See ya around then.” and she felt him pass behind her.

She glanced over, slightly curious on who the person who she assumed, based on the conversation she had eavesdropped on, had left the dojo, and was slightly surprised by his choice of hair color. Must have been dyed recently, seeing as it’s the same color closer to the roots. That pretty green wasn’t something you see everyday. She noticed her water bottle had filled up, and she twisted the cap back onto it, before making her way back to the dance studio.

Her feet stopped as she noticed the green haired man standing before the music room. The door was slid open, and he was talking to someone inside. She decided to take the opportunity to slip past, instead of waiting, stalking nearby. It didn’t quite look all that great for herself, seeing as there weren’t very many people who studied their passions in this building with her bright hair color. As she was making her way past them, trying to keep to herself as much as possible she heard her name ring through the air, freezing her in her spot. Her heart thumped in her chest as she tried to remain calm, knowing that they weren’t going to ask her the ridiculous things she purposely stayed here to get away from.

“Nami! Hey!” she heard.

_Don’t look at him, keep walking_ , she told herself as she tried to get her feet to move forward instead of spinning over to look at the one who called her. Her eyes met the narrowed eyes of the green haired swordsman, and the large eyes of a black haired _kid_ who must have been the one practicing with the instructor, recognizing that slightly childlike voice, and that large smile that stretched across his face. _Happy_ , she noticed, he was happy. That was an emotion she hadn’t felt in a while. She wished she could be happy like that, smiling with ease, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do.

“Hi…” she began, before realizing she didn’t know the kid’s name.

“Have you met Zoro?” he asked as if they were friends in the first place.

“No, I haven’t,” she stated, still confused on who this person was, exactly.

“Awesome!” he cheered, and made his way out of the room, to place one hand on her shoulder, and the other on Zoro’s. She flinched at the contact, but noticed the height difference between him and Zoro, it was notable. He was at least a head shorter, and an inch or two taller than herself. “Nami, this is Zoro! He’s really strong, and he can hold three swords!” he exclaimed with wide eyes. She meekly nodded to his statement, as he turned his head over to the man he named as Zoro, “Zoro, this is Nami! She’s really smart! _AND_ she can help you so you don’t get lost!” he giggled.

_Lost?_ She asked herself. That was a weird statement to make, it was true though. In her free time, when she wasn’t trying to spend as much time as possible in the studio away from her so called home, she was working on navigation, and cartography. Studying maps and stars. It was fun, and a good way to cheer herself up on the cold days. Though she had to admit, she had no idea who this kid was, and what he was doing in a graduate-level performing arts center. How did he know anything about her, it didn’t quite make sense.

“Nami?” she heard his voice as he got up in her face, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” she replied, “I’m fine, nice to meet you Zoro, and…” she looked at the black haired kid, waiting for a response, waiting for him to say his name so that she would know what it was. His eyes were wide and confused, waiting for her to finish her sentence. He seemed like he knew her, either that, or he was a stalker, knowing things like that with her.

“And?” he repeated, waiting for her to continue.

“You look like you scared the girl,” Zoro stated, with a sigh.

“Did not!” he snapped back, before turning his attention back to her, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m _fine_ ,” she repeated, as she backed away from him, “I just have to finish my practicing.”

“Oh, okay,” he shrugged, “you’ll come meet me and Sanji at the cafe later, right?”

“Cafe?” she asked, before she could turn around to make her way back into the studio.

“Yeah, I told you yesterday that I was gonna bring Zoro with me, cause you two haven’t met him yet.” he stated, with a smile.

“Oh, sorry, I think I forgot,” she smiled, “What cafe was that again?”

_Wrong thing to say_ , she noted as his face dropped in a confused and disappointed pout. Obviously, she must know who this person is, or he’s mistaking her for someone else, there was no other reason except for that one. She had no idea who he was, and his face wasn’t showing up in her mind anywhere. The fact that he was acting like he knew her could be just his way of getting girls to do what he wanted them to. She had experience with that, as much as she hated to admit it. But the way he was smiling, the way his eyes were caring as if there was something he could help with made her want to put that thought aside. This kid was a good kid, she wanted to tell herself, but he knew too much about her, and he was acting like he knew her. He must have her mistaken for another girl with strawberry blond locks and the name Nami. Though, she was the _only_ person who furthered their education at this center with that description, and unless you had a key, there was no way you could get into the building.


	2. What's His Name?

**What's His Name?**

He brought his hands to his sides as he walked up to her, nearly in her face. She gulped, confused on why this stranger claimed to know her so well, quite creeped out to say the least. He was staring into her large brown eyes, trying to search for something it seemed. _What do you want?_ She wanted to ask him, force him to back away from her, force him and his crazy haired friend to leave her alone. His lips suddenly perked into a smile, surprising her, as he let out a giggle. His eyes squinted as his smile grew larger, and his body began to shake as he laughed.

“Darn it!” he said between chokes of laughter, “I really thought you’d remember for us.” He sighed, his laughter dying down, “Guess I’ll just have to call Sanji.” His head dropped as he reached into his front pocket for his phone.

“Well, I have to get back to practicing, it’s not like you're in a hurry or anything,” she smiled as she turned around to get back to the studio.

“Aren’t you coming with us?” he asked, “that’s why we’re still here, right? You told us to wait for you.”

Her tracks stopped. There was obviously something wrong with these two, she didn’t know them. She had no idea who they were, so why were they acting like they knew her? Why did he continue to ask her questions she didn’t know the answers to. How did he know her in the first place! Nothing was making sense. She turned back around to look at him, wanting to shove into his face that she had no idea who he was, no idea who Sanji was. That she didn’t know about meeting up at a cafe, that she was planning on heading straight back to that wretched place she called home after she was done practicing. That she didn’t have time to go to a cafe, with everything that was going on in her life. That she couldn’t, no matter how hard she wanted to.

Her mouth went dry as she stared into his curious eyes, and noticed his friend’s stern ones, as if she dared to break his heart. As if whatever she said out of her mouth next was going to be held against her. That just saying ‘no’ could somehow wreck her entire world. She didn’t even know his name, she only knew his friend’s, Zoro, and he wasn’t saying the name that _might_ possibly help her remember who these two people were, or at least who this wide eyed, childlike kid in front of her was. Saying that she didn’t know him was no longer an option, but she knew she had to tell him she couldn’t come with him to the cafe.

“Ah, I realized something came up, so I won’t be able to go with you, sorry.” she lied, smiling as if that would help soothe what she was saying.

“What are you talking about?” he asked, “You said you had a clear schedule this week, and it was the only day we could do it.”

“Yeah, well, my mom told me that I-” she began trying to further explain her lie, but was cut off by his surprisingly stern voice.

“Nami, you’re coming with us. Sanji said he wanted to give you one of his new recipes. Why would you say ‘no?’ Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I told you, I’m _fine_ ,” she stated, taking a step back, “I just can’t come with you guys this time, okay?”

The man in front of her hung his head, “We can help you with what you needed to do. But there’s no way I’m leaving this place without you.”

Maybe if she knew who he was, that would sound a little bit less creepy than it did, but given the situation, she had no idea who he was. There wasn’t any way around this one, was there. She let out a sigh, and turned back to the studio, with this strange man and his green haired friend following behind her. She opened the door and saw her things still sprawled out on the bench where she had left them. The man behind her sped into the room and spun around a few times, before looking into the large mirrors.

“Wow!” he stated, with a smile, “why do you need so many mirrors?”

She decided to ignore his question, as she sat down on the bench to untie her ballet shoes from her ankles. She pushed some of the extra hair behind her ear as she let loose of the ribbons from one of the shoes. The light shining on her darkened, and she looked up to see the shallow face of Zoro. He looked rather intimidating, especially when he wasn’t behind a smiling idiot child-friend of his.

“I thought you’ve known him for a while. He talks about you often, didn’t you know you couldn’t get out of something once he sets his mind on it?” his friend asked, as he stared down at her.

“Uh, yeah, it just slipped my mind,” she lied, before slipping off her other shoe, and carefully laying them in her duffle bag.

“I know this is the first time we’ve met, but I also know you’ve known him for a while, why would you try to pull something like that to him?” the man asked, still staring down at her, crossing his arms. He must have ignored what she had said.

“Haha,” she nervously laughed, “I guess sometimes his idiocy makes me think I could get away with it.” it was a risky line, seeing as his friend had been glaring at her since she saw his face. But he turned his face away from her to look back at the frolicking black haired kid who appeared to have no intentions of helping her out.

“Yeah, he is,” he stated, before he turned around, “Hey! She’s almost done!”

She sighed, he still hasn’t said his name, and after admitting that she had been friends with him for a while, though this was the first time she actually talked with him, there really wasn’t a way for her to call his name now. Maybe she’d tag along with them for the meantime, but get out of the cafe as quickly as possible when she could.

That plan had proved flawed, she soon realized as she was walking down the sidewalk holding his phone in her hand, and trying to find the cafe that was typed in the text received from ‘Sanji.’ as the name on the messages said. He was busy spinning around poles as they passed them, and his friend was walking behind her with his hand resting on the three sheathed swords on his right hip. He actually carried the swords around town, which was rather strange, but he appeared quite fond of them, so she supposed it was a hobby. Besides, most places said ‘no concealed weapons’ so he really wasn’t breaking those rules.

She stopped before an illuminated sign of a fish. _This is the cafe?_ She asked herself, as she watched the phone get snatched from her hand, and the kid spin his way into the building, his green haired friend directly behind him. She pushed open the glass doors, and glanced around the room, not exactly knowing who they were supposed to meet, other than his name. The message picture on the phone was some type of meat. Other than the giant fish on the sign, the place was actually quite nice. The teal and orange colors accented the white walls and light blue tiles on the floor perfectly. Small couches were in the corners, a blond haired man was the only one sitting at them though, as the other guests had sat down at some of the tables by the window to watch the incoming sunset.

“Sanji! You’re here already!” the black haired child called running over to the blond haired man she had seen in the corner.

“Bastard, you finally made it!” The man stated, standing up, and seeing him before his eyes laid on her, and he swirled around the tables to greet her, “Nami-swan, did he get lost? Did he cause your precious self any trouble on the way here?”

“Ah, no,” she stated, slightly alarmed by his sudden fatuation with her, though she began to see this to her advantage.

“What a creep, that’s your friend?” Zoro’s voice sounded from behind the man the black haired guy called Sanji.

“Yep!” the cheerful voice of the one that dragged her into the mess laughed.

“Creep?” Sanji asked, turning over to Zoro, “Did you just call me a creep?”

“I’m just saying that’s one hell of a way to greet someone. Blowing us off like that.”

“I don’t even know who you are!” Sanji responded, with a frown.

“Ah!” the black haired man exclaimed, “Sanji! This is Zoro! He gets lost a lot!” he had squeezed his way in between them, “Zoro, this is Sanji, he works here.”

“You get lost? A grown man like you?” Sanji laughed.

“I bet your food sucks, that’s why you're not the one back in the kitchen, and out here greeting customers!” Zoro retorted.

“What a way to address your cook!” Sanji exclaimed. He turned over to the black haired laughing guy, “Excuse me for a second, while I whip up Nami-san and you bastards some food.”

“Bastard!” Zoro exclaimed as the blond haired man disappeared behind the counter of the cafe.

“I’d appreciate it, thank you.” Nami smiled. At least this man was nice, and not barging into her personal space like the other guy, who brought her here.

“Ooh! Sanji!” the black haired man exclaimed, leaping over the counter, “do you have any meat! I’m exhausted!”

“Oh bullshit!” Sanji stated, as he began to push the man’s shoulder with his foot back over the counter. Nami noticed that he was indeed flexible. That was a good trait when it came to dancing. She needed a partner for a few of the lifts, and they hadn’t found one that was flexible enough to do it. She didn’t know either of them, but Sanji had great flexibility with his legs, and the black haired man seemed to not even have a backbone. She seated herself on the couch that Sanji had been previously sitting at, Zoro folding his arms as he sat in one of the chairs.

“Hey, Zoro,” Nami asked, as she watched the two bickering behind the counter. One trying to get the other out of the employee restricted area.

“Hm?” the green haired man responded, as he closed his eyes.

“How’d I get here?”

She was too focused on the two behind the counter to notice his eyes suddenly snap open. Her ears were training to just hear his answer, her focus elsewhere. There was obviously much more on her mind, and he wasn’t gonna bug her about it, of which she was grateful. “How’d we all get here, really? It’s all that idiot’s fault for bringing us into the mess. Besides, I barely even know you, how would I know?”

“Yeah, good question.” she sighed, _why won’t they just call him by his name?_ “Does he usually do things like this?”

Zoro blinked, “You mean he’s different when he’s around you?”

“Uh, yeah,” Nami lied, before she twisted it into the truth she knew, “Can’t recall the last time he acted like this.” Silence befell them, and she stared down at her fingers, hoping not to feel the buzzing of her phone in her back pocket.

“Nami-swan!” Sanji’s voice echoed throughout the cafe, “I made you a delicious parfait! With oranges, and strawberries, and chocolate!” He placed the delicacy down on the small coffee table in front of her, before turning around, and shoving a bowl of the apparent leftovers of her dessert into the black haired child’s face, which he caught with his hands.

“Ah! Thanks Sanji! Your food’s the best! You should really try it Zoro!” he stated as he sat crisscrossed at the coffee table, close enough to Nami that she could poke him with her toe. His head turned around so his eyes met hers, “Isn’t that right, Nami?”

“Yep! Best parfait ever.” she smiled, as she scooped a spoonful of the yogurt into her mouth.

“It’s yogurt.” Zoro responded, as Sanji reluctantly sat in the open seat beside him.

“You never know til you try it.” Sanji barked back, shoving one of the other bowls toward him, which he blocked from reaching his face.

“Oi, Luffy, I thought you said that Usopp was coming, too.” Zoro asked, as he placed the bowl down on the table.

“Yeah, he said he couldn’t make it today,” the black haired boy frowned, as he looked up to Zoro, yogurt was on the corners of his lips. His hair swayed as he turned his head back to meet Nami’s, “Sorry, I promised I’d let you meet him, too.”

“Ah, no, it’s okay.” she heard herself say as she tried to rack her memory of meeting someone named ‘Luffy.’ Unfortunately, nothing was becoming any clearer in her head, instead she realized she couldn’t stay much longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one I think is longer than the last chapter... Could you please share your thoughts? That would be greatly appreciated!!! Thank you!!!  
> Yep, it's a cliff-hanger... if you read my other stories, you'd probably catch onto this little habit of mine rather quickly.


	3. Is It Good?

** Is It Good? **

“So, Nami-san, how are you doing on your dance?” Sanji asked, “did you find a partner yet?”

She blinked at him, _how does he know this much?_ She thought to herself, before recalling that they seemed to know her more than she knew her own self, “Ah, no, not yet,” she sighed, before gaining a little confidence, “Sanji, do you know how to dance?”

Sanji blinked, seemingly offended at first, before he sighed, “Nami-san, you already asked me when you got the part,” he stated, her eyes went wide, “and as much as I would love to hold you in my arms, and lift you above the head and closer to the heavens where it appears you have come from, an angel, glowing, adorable. A queen-” he was cut off by the man in green.

“Get to the point,” Zoro sighed.

“-ahem-” Sanji recovered, “I was getting there. I can’t. I work, and I promised I’d help Robin-chan organize her library, and Vivi-san feed Karoo, and Nojiko-chan pick oranges, on your performance day.” he sighed.

“Nojiko?” Nami asked, _my sister? How does he know my sister? Why is Nojiko getting help from these people?_

“Yes, I’m sorry, I didn’t tell you sooner,” Sanji stated, “I thought you had already known, she said the best picking time for the oranges were on your performance date, and she wanted to watch it, so she asked me to pick them for her.”

“Why does she have time to do that?” Nami asked, her thoughts accidentally tumbling out of her mouth.

“Is she not supposed to have time?” Luffy asked, looking up at her, confused, yogurt on the corners of his lips.

She looked down at him, and his large curious eyes, “Uh, no, she can.” there was no need to get these people involved in her troubles. She didn’t even know them in the first place, why should they bother about her.

“She seemed to have a lot of time on her hands when she helped me find Usopp.” Zoro stated, as he picked up the parfait that Sanji had made.

 _Helped him? When?_ Nami questioned as she looked over to the green haired man across from her. “I was just worried, that’s all.” she lied, and leaned back into the chair.

Luffy stood from his spot and turned around to face her, the yogurt still not cleaned from the corners of his mouth, “Nami, you’ve been acting weird.”

“Idiot!” Sanji exclaimed, quicker than lightning, as he slapped the back of the black haired man’s head.

“Stupid cook!” Zoro responded to the action, and through the parfait at Sanji.

Nami zoned out their argument as she looked up into Luffy’s eyes as he stared down at her, seemingly unfazed by the sudden actions after he had stood up. She really wanted to clean the yogurt off his face, because it was distracting, but she strained her eyes to stay focused on his round ones. His bangs were decently long, and if they weren’t messy, and swept away, they’d probably cover his eyes.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Nami,” Luffy stated, as he leaned closer to her, “Are you sick again?” he placed a hand under her bangs against her forehead and closed his eyes.

The scar under his eye stood out to her, and she briefly wanted to touch it. But this was someone she didn’t even know, even though she was letting him place his hand to her head. It was something that she just didn’t understand, and didn’t think she would ever, unless she actually got to know them. She took a deep breath, and clasped her fingers around his wrist. It was thinner than she had expected. She pulled his hand away from her head, and smiled up at him.

“L-Luffy,” she stuttered, not sure if she was pronouncing his name right, “I’m fine, just…” she trailed off, as she looked into his curious eyes, trying to find something that would make him believe her. He seemed to have a more understanding of her emotions than she did, “…just a little worried about getting a partner for the dance.”

“Ah,” he leaned away from her, pulling his hand from her grasp. He sat on the armrest of the chair, and looked up at the ceiling in thought. “What is it?”

“Sorry?”

“The dance, what is it?” he said, turning his head to look back at her.

“How have you not known what the dance is, Luffy!” Sanji exclaimed at him, marching over to him, with yogurt all over his clothes, “she had told us many times before!”

“Oh, when?” he asked, turning to face him, as the blond got closer.

“When she got the roll!” Sanji exclaimed and kicked Luffy in the shin.

“Owe,” Luffy muttered, before turning back to her, “Sorry, I guess I wasn’t listening.”

“Idiot.” Sanji muttered as he sat back down in his seat. He picked up his own yogurt, and slammed it into Zoro’s face, “At least try it before you say it’s disgusting, you moss-headed freak!”

“What!” Zoro exclaimed through the bowl of yogurt being pressed into his face.

Nami turned her attention back to the black haired kid, “It’s a simple dance, really, I need someone to help me do the lifts, we don’t have anyone that’s right for the role.”

“I see.” Luffy replied, “So when will you find someone?”

“I need to find someone who is flexible, strong, and can dance, on top of being willing to be my partner.” she told him, not really understanding why she was telling this kid her troubles.

“Wow,” his eyes got larger, much to her surprise at their capability to even do that. “That’s a lot of things to find.” He slid himself off the couch, and noticed the strange fight that was going on with the other two people of the small group that had gathered. “Zoro, did you try it? Is it good?”

Zoro looked over at him, and smiled, “Yeah, Luffy, it’s actually edible.”

“Edible! Just edible!” Sanji exclaimed rising from his seat, again.

The sun had already set by the time they left the cafe, and Nami had another problem to worry about. She hadn’t expected for time to pass by so quickly. She had only just met these guys, but they had gotten along well enough as if they had known each other for years. She sighed, and began to make her way back to her home. There was a lot dancing on her mind lately, and now to add onto her worries, there was apparently an entire group of friends she didn’t even know she had. People she didn’t even know she had even met before, yet they claimed to have known her. To be her friend. On top of all of that, there was Luffy.

He was probably the biggest mystery to her. _Sure_ , Sanji _and_ her were supposed to meet two of Luffy’s friends, and they only met one, but Sanji wasn’t as much of a mystery. She could tell the basics of his life, he is passionate toward women, he cooks, and he hates it when his food is insulted. Zoro was easy, too. From the gist of him, if it wasn’t fighting, he didn’t care. So he probably wandered around aimlessly, and slept a lot. But Luffy, Luffy was different.

He was care-free. As if there was nothing wrong with the world, and yet, _How’d we all get here, really? It’s all that idiot’s fault for bringing us into the mess_ , Zoro’s words left a mark on her. She had a feeling the idiot, the care-free, self-less, overly cheerful, Luffy had his fair share of the harsh reality of the world. So why? Why was he able to smile so easily? Why did he call her into their messes? Why was he claiming to be her friend? Who was he? He was nice, that much was certain. Though something felt off about him, like he had some big secret he hadn’t told anybody.

“Who are you?” the words slipped out of her mouth as she watched him wave good-bye to Zoro and Sanji, yelling out that someone shouldn’t get lost.

“Huh?” he asked, turning around, with his arms still half raised.

Deciding not to go back on her question, she repeated it, with more conviction, “Who are you, Luffy?”

“I’m Luffy.” he responded, his eyes holding a confused stare.

“I know that,” Nami sighed, and marched over to him, “I’m not asking for your name, I’m asking about you. Who are you, really?”

“Nami, you’re scary.” Luffy said, raising his hands in front of him to defend himself, “I’m sorry, whatever I did, I’m sorry!”

“Don’t apologize! I don’t need that,” Nami sighed, relaxing her arms at her sides.

Luffy stared at her in silence, as she looked down at the ground trying to figure out the right words to say. He didn’t have anything to say, and she didn’t blame him, she had just suddenly blurted out something she probably shouldn’t have. She took a deep breath and turned away from him in the direction of her so-called home.

“Is there something wrong?” Luffy’s words echoed through the air, and froze her from moving.

She opened her mouth to repeat the two words that she’ll say to get people off her back, but nothing came out. She stared at the ground, unable to tell him what was actually bugging her. If she _did_ know him, how come she didn’t remember him, or if she _didn’t_ , how come he knew her so well? Out of the three guys she had met, this was probably what had made him the biggest mystery of them all.

“Nami?”

She snapped, and turned back around to him, “Yes, something is wrong!”

“What is it? I can hel-” she cut him off, as his eyes went wide.

“No! You can’t!” she pointed a finger into his face, nearly touching his nose, “I don’t know who the hell you are! This is the first time I’ve ever met you, and here you go claiming to be my fucking friend! What type of shit is that? Who are you, really? What do you want? I’m tired of smiling around for some stalker! Luffy? Right? I can’t stand you! You and your petty smiles, and your little laugh! What type of kid are you? Stay away from me! I never want to see your sad little puffy face again!”

“Nami,” Luffy’s eyes had softened half-way through her rant, and it pissed her off, “I’m not leaving.”

“Go home, kid,” she sighed, and turned around, her tongue clicking against the roof of her mouth.

“Nami,” he said again, and she didn’t turn to face him, “I’m not a kid.” She turned her head slightly, his voice wasn’t harsh, but it wasn’t crying either. He didn’t seem that hurt by her words. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m not leaving you.” she heard his flip flops against the pavement walk away. She knew what he meant, and she folded her arms across her chest. He was an idiot after all.

She opened the door to the dance studio and was greeted by the cheerful grin of the black haired kid she had screamed at just the other day. No other graduate was in the room yet, since she wanted to get some extra stretching and dancing in, before anyone else. His smile was wide, as if the conversation that they had had didn’t even happen at all. Why was he there? She let out a long sigh, and placed her back down on the bench beside the one he was sitting on.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, placing her hands on her hips.

“You said you needed a dance partner right?” He asked, before standing up, and walking over to her, “Sanji said he couldn’t do it, and Usopp started telling some story, Zoro said he’d rather die, and my other friends I haven’t introduced you to yet, so Sanji said I could.” He tilted his head, “You need someone flexible, right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this one is a little shorter than the others, but there was a lot of ups and downs in this one. A real roller coaster.  
> I hope I wrote Luffy alright. I think he's probably the hardest One Piece character to right, because he isn't a complete idiot, and is emotionally smart, but other than the times where he's fighting, he tends to act on his feet with everything, and is really childish.  
> Anyway, enjoy this cliff-hanger!!!


	4. Can You Dance?

**Can You Dance?**

“I thought I said to leave me alone?” Nami asked, her brows furrowing.

“And I said no.” he replied, folding his arms across his chest.

“Luffy, I don’t want someone I don’t know to be hanging around me like some lost child.”

“I’m not a child!” he exclaimed, before pouting, “and I’m not lost either.”

“I thought I made it very clear, that I don’t want  _ you _ around  _ me _ !” She stated, shoving her finger in his face.

“And I said no.” he stated, firmly, as if that was the end of the argument, “besides, you  _ do _ know me.”

“ _ Now _ I do. I met you for the first time just the other day.”

“What?” he looked genuinely concerned, “No, you didn’t, you had-”

She interrupted him, “ _ Yes _ , Luffy, I did, I didn’t even know your name until Zoro said it.”

“What? But… I remember-”

She cut him off again, “Well your memory serves wrong, Luffy.”

“But Sanji!” Luffy exclaimed pointing a finger at her, “Sanji knew you! Do you remember Sanji?”

“No, I didn’t. Only until you said his name did I even know his, this must all be in your head, Luffy.”

“No, no, no,” he stamped his foot on the ground like a spoiled kid, “I know the difference between a dream and my memories, Nami! I met you back with the old man, and you had tied me up. I remember that, Nami. I remember meeting you. I wouldn’t forget a friend like that!”

He sounded really upset. Much different than when she had first walked into the room, and when she had last spoken with him, before the weekend. She hung her head, before seating herself on the bench, and taking off her shoes to put on her ballet slippers. “If you can’t dance, than get out of the studio, Luffy.”

“I’m staying right here, until you remember.” he pouted.

“The other dancers are going to be coming in here soon, so you better go.”

“I’m going to take a nap.” he folded his arms across his chest.

“Then do that in the music room,” she sighed, as she put one slipper on her foot.

There was a loud thud, and she looked over to the black haired (not) kid, as he lay on the floor, his eyes closed, and the straw hat that she noticed he always had with him smashed under his head and shoulders. He was sprawled out like a star on the ground, he was in the way. She placed on her other slipper and tied them, before making her way over to him. She shook one shoulder, but he didn’t move.

“You’re going to get stepped on.” she mumbled as she stood up, deciding to ignore him. “Can he even dance, anyway?” she asked herself as she sat on the floor away from him, stretching to touch her toes.

Much to her surprise, he was still laying on the floor when all the other dancers had come into the room. Some stared at him, curious to why he was there, others rolled their eyes, while few joked of stepping on him to see if he’d wake up. She, herself, wasn’t part of any of them. She knew why he was there, and knew that he wouldn’t leave even if they stepped on him. But she wasn’t one to roll her eyes either, even if she didn’t know him for long, she could tell that he wasn’t some stupid kid. Even if he looked and acted like one.

“So, Nami,” one of the girls asked, sliding over to her on the bar, “Who's the kid?”

“I don’t know.” she replied, as she lifted her leg to the bar.

“Come on, is he your partner?”

“Does he look like it?” she responded, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, his attire definitely doesn’t look like anything a dancer would wear to rehearsal, I’ll give you that,” her colleague replied, “but his build doesn’t look like he’d be bad at it, per say.” she sighed, and looked back at Nami, “So, why’s he here then?”

Nami groaned, “He claims to want to help, but I’ve only met him yesterday.”

“He could like you, you know.”

“Doubt it.” Nami sighed, “he’s an idiot, a child, and stupid.”

“I thought you only met him yesterday?” the girl asked, stretching her leg back.

“I did, that was enough to tell.” Nami replied, before copying the same stretch.

It wasn’t until halfway through their rehearsal that Luffy actually sat up, yawning. Everyone froze at his action, seeing as he hadn’t moved for their whole rehearsal thus far. He scratched his head as if to ask where he was before he turned around, and picked up the straw hat that was smashed underneath him, and placing it firmly back onto his head. Everyone, save Nami, stared at him as he stood up, stretching his limbs. He looked over at the girls, and smiled.

“Yo!” He said, jumping over to them, “I’m Luffy!” his grin turned his cheeks up, and his eyes squinted.

“Hi,” one of the girls smiled, holding out a hand, “Ishilly.” Luffy high-fived her, with a smile, before she continued, “So, what brings you here?”

Luffy blinked and glanced around the room, “Nami needed someone for a partner, Sanji couldn’t do it, Zoro wouldn’t do it, Usopp started telling some story, and she doesn’t know my other friends.” he explained, “Why?”

“Well,” Ishilly continued, “You’ve been sleeping over there for quite some time.”

He turned his head over to where he had gotten up, “Yeah, and?”

“You wouldn’t wake up, so it was difficult to dance around you.”

“Okay, and?” Luffy asked again, snapping his head back over to her.

“We had to avoid you, which caused a problem in our dancing routine.” Ishilly tried clarifying.

“Okay. Sorry, I guess,” Luffy shrugged, before swinging his arms behind his head and looking up, “This room is pretty big.”

Ishilly smiled, though her brows were twitching, “Can you go back home to your parents?”

“Don’t have ‘em.” Luffy replied, as he turned around and began looking around the room.

“Your family?” she tried to adjust her words, not intending on hurting him.

The intruder shuddered, “Don’t send me to Gramps.” he stated, “Though, Ace is okay.” he nodded, “but I don’t know where he’s at, right now.”

“Luffy, you need to leave,” Nami piped in.

“No.” Luffy replied swinging his whole body back to face her, “I told you I wasn’t gonna leave. I’m gonna stay here til you remember.”

“Remember what?” Nami asked, folding her arms across her chest, “That you barged into my life without even knocking?”

He giggled, “Life doesn’t have a door, Nami!”

Her cheeks reddened, “That’s not the point! I want you to get out!”

“No.” His face went serious again, “I told you I wasn’t gonna leave.” he looked around the room again, “So what are you guys doing anyway?”

“Well, it’s a harder routine, but-” Ishilly began but was cut off.

“It doesn’t involve you, Luffy, so get out.”

Luffy sat down on the ground, which happened to be in the middle of the studio, “I said no.”

“Could you perhaps sit on one of the benches, then?” Ishilly tried compromising with the other girls in agreement with her.

“Get out, Luffy.” Nami disagreed.

“No, Nami. I said I wouldn’t. There’s something wrong with you, and I won’t leave til you figure it out.” He stated, folding his arms across his chest.

“Please go sit on one of the benches, then?” Ishilly asked again.

He looked up at the girl, “I’m not moving.”

“No, the benches in the studio, you don’t have to leave.”

He tilted his head, “but those benches aren’t comfortable.”

“More comfortable than the floor,” Nami muttered, before walking over to her bag, and picking up the half empty water bottle from beside it.

Luffy watched her walk past him, “No, have you tried sleeping one those?”

“Sleeping?” All the girls asked in unison.

Luffy continued, ignoring them, “they aren’t that comfortable at all.”

“They aren’t meant to be slept on, Luffy.” Nami sighed, closing the cap to her bottle. “And when have you slept on them, anyway?”

“I was waiting for you.” he responded, spinning himself around on the floor, “but you came later than I was expecting.”

“Luffy,” Nami sighed, placing her bottle back down beside her bag, “you said you wanted to be my partner, right?”

“Mhm, and?”

“I’ll let you be my partner, and you can stay in the room,  _ if _ you can actually do the movements involved.” Nami explained, “So, can you dance?”

“Yep.” he smiled.

“Ballet dancing, Luffy, can you do lifts, and leaps? Can you pirouette?” Nami asked, placing her hands to her hips.

“Pie-net?” Luffy repeated, “What’s that?”

“Luffy, you can’t dance, can you?” she asked.

“Can too!” Luffy exclaimed, leaning forward, and slamming his hands to the ground, “Zoro and I go do it all the time!”

“Zoro?”

“Yeah.”

“You and Zoro go ballet dancing?” Nami repeated, “I find that hard to believe.”

“Well we dance!” Luffy yelled.

“Show me.” Nami stated, “Show me that you can dance.”

“Fine.” Luffy stated, standing up.

“No! Luffy! Stop!” Zoro’s voice echoed across the room, and the attention was turned toward the door.

“Why?” Luffy asked, folding his arms.

Zoro marched into the room, “Luffy you can’t do that!”

“Can too!”

“No, you can’t. Let’s go.” Zoro stated, grabbing a hold of the black haired kid’s arm.

“Zoro! Let go! I have to show Nami I can dance, too!”

“No, Luffy, you can’t, you’ll get in big trouble if you do that, remember?”

“It only happened once.” Luffy mumbled, looking away.

“Forget about the witch, Luffy,” Zoro stated, “she doesn’t want to be your friend, can’t you accept that?”

“But she  _ is _ my friend, Zoro! Just like Sanji, and Usopp. Your all my friends, I can’t just-”

Zoro cut him off, “You  _ can _ , Luffy. If someone doesn’t  _ want _ to be your friend, you just have to accept that. Not everyone wants to be friends with you, Luffy.”

“But she  _ is _ , Zoro.” Luffy replied, successfully pulling his arm out of the stronger and taller man’s grasp, “she just doesn’t remember it.”

“Why would she  _ want _ to be friends with someone like you, Luffy?” Zoro asked, pressing his fingers to his temple.

“Well she does, because she is.” Luffy replied, pouting, “You just don’t understand.”

“You don’t get it, Luffy.” Zoro stated, with a sigh, “Sometimes I wonder how you even managed to graduate.”

“Well, I’m not leaving, Zoro.”

“You aren’t dancing, either, Luffy.”

“Zoro.” Luffy stated, looking at him, “I’m not leaving till she remembers.”

“Fine, but count me out of it.” Zoro sighed, and turned to leave.

“The door’s the other way.” Luffy mumbled.

“I knew that.” Zoro responded, before he turned in the right direction, and walked out of the room.

She was actually really hoping that Zoro would succeed in getting Luffy out, and that’s why she hadn’t said anything, though it was bugging her why Zoro wouldn’t let the kid dance. Maybe he didn’t want his friend to be embarrassed, but she was highly sure that wasn’t it. Based on the stern attitude they both portrayed this was an important matter, and it wasn’t something easily done, either. She was sure when he mentioned dancing with Zoro it was more of street dancing, or hip hop, to be precise. So even if he did show her, that wouldn’t be the type of dancing she did, so, it wouldn’t work with lifts anyway. And with him not being able to show her how he dances, he’s got no way to prove that he can dance, and thus no reason for him staying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a bit of Zoro and Luffy in there for ya! There was a tad of Zoro and Sanji in the last chapter, too!!!  
> I'm gonna try and add a bit more of the other ships I have tagged on this as the story progresses. Though, right now, I want to get a few of the platonic ships down, for now. Especially, if you couldn't already tell, the main ship of this fanfic. I'm trying to keep it as natural as possible, too.  
> If you hadn't noticed, one of the tags is Alternate Universe-Modern Setting with Powers, and I'll be honest, I do want to keep some of their powers, but some people WILL be changed, such as Brook. (This isn't a spoiler, as Brook has already appeared, this is just a heads up, also, its tagged 'with powers' so... yeah.) Since, you know, skeletons are kinda freaky to just be walking around. But, you know...


	5. Is He Worthy?

** Is He Worthy? **

“So, what can I do?” Luffy asked, putting his hands on his hips, awaiting her command.

“As much as we would love to gain another male dancer,  _ Luffy _ ,” Ishilly smiled, “We need to make sure you qualify.”

“Qualify?” Luffy repeated, before giggling, “So that’s why you wanted me to leave.” he was talking to Nami, but he had turned away from the dark haired woman since she started talking.

“No, Luffy, that’s not it.” Nami mumbled, pushing her fingers against her temple, as she crossed her arm across her abdomen.

“So what do I gotta do?” Luffy asked, leaning forward.

“Do you have any dance experience?” Ishilly asked, starting with the most basic questions.

“Yep.”

“Do you have any experience in this genre of dance?” she corrected.

“Ballet?” he repeated, before humming to himself, “I’ve seen Nami do it, and she’s dragged me along in her practice at my place before…” he trailed off, putting a hand to his chin in thought. His eyes squinted as he tried to think.

“I thought you said you didn’t know him,” one of the other dancers whispered in Nami’s ear, as she stared wide eyed at Luffy, his head tilting back and forth as he tried to rack his brain for the word he was thinking of.

“I don’t,” she replied, “I have no idea what he’s talking about.”

“You do too know me!” Luffy snapped, surprising her that he even heard her mumble. He turned back to his interrogator, “Yep! I have, at least, that’s what she had said.”

“Are you qualified to do lifts?” Ishilly asked, glancing up at Nami for clarification on the boy’s words.

“Lifts?” Luffy asked, “Like lifting things up? Yeah, I can do that.” he replied, as if she were the idiot.

“No,” Ishilly sighed, finding that she would have to correct her question again, “Are you qualified to do stage lifting. Lifting people up in dance. Have you been taught how to do that?”

“Oh!” Luffy’s eyes widened as realization of what she had meant hit him, “Oh, yeah, of course.”

Nami sighed, and walked back over to her duffle bag to grab out the crumpled sheets of paper that Ishilly would probably need next. They contained the basic movements of the dance number they were doing this season. After all, that’s what Luffy was here for. She didn’t want him to be a part of it, but she supposed it’d be alright to show him just how difficult it was to do dance. Not to mention this number was the hardest one she had done since she had started dance in her early childhood. She pulled out the sheets of paper and looked over to Ishilly as the ‘captain’ of the ballet team wrapped up her interview with the idiot black haired kid, who was basically a stalker.

“Need these?” she asked, holding up the papers.

“Ah!” Ishilly exclaimed, looking over Luffy’s shoulder to Nami.

Luffy turned around as Ishilly walked past him to meet up with the strawberry blond dancer, “What are those?”

“These,” Ishilly began, placing the papers, though crumpled a little, into Luffy’s hands, “Are the basic steps for this piece. I’ll let you look it over a few times, before we’ll let you go through the movements with our top dancer. Just the first two pages are fine.”

Luffy flipped through them, “So I just have to make myself look like the pictures?”

“Well,” Nami sighed, and pulled the papers from him, “not exactly, I mean, yes, that’s part of it. But if you just pose in these positions it’ll look choppy.”

“So, I move from this position to this position, right?” He asked, pointing at the third position printed on the page, then the fourth, as he leaned into her so he could see the paper.

“Yeah,” she answered, shoving the papers into his chest, and walking over to the other dancers, as they waited to begin the next scene, having been abruptly stopped by someone rising from the floor.

“That’s easy enough.” Luffy stated, as he kept his spot in the center of the dance floor, looking over the papers.

“Could you look them over at the bench?” One of the dancers asked, as she tapped him on the shoulder.

“But I’m almost done,” he sighed, and flipped another page, still not moving.

“We kinda need the space, though,” the dancer continued, though Luffy didn’t raise his head from the papers.

“This is gonna be easy!” Luffy exclaimed, handing the papers to the dancer who was trying to get him to move, “I wanna try!” he said, his eyes staring right into her own.

She looked away from him and over to Nami and Ishilly, who were shrugging, as if to tell her to come back so they could see him dance. “You know the movements already?” she asked, on not getting support from her piers.

“Oh yeah! They’re pretty easy to remember.” he shrugged, “So can I try?”

She glanced back, before nodding and making her way over to a frowning Nami, and an amused Ishilly. Nami felt kinda bad for her, having to face the idiot by herself, and have him get into her personal space like that. She really wanted to crush him, to show him he  _ can’t _ dance, and that he should just leave her alone. However, he turned to face them, with a large smile on his face, before stretching his arms behind his head, and leaned down to stretch his leg muscles.

“Alright! I’m ready!” he exclaimed with a big grin on his face.

The first couple of movements were simple, easy to do. Though they did repeat each other a few times, Nami was certain anyone could do that. It was just  _ that _ easy. The hard parts started on the second page. Her eyes went wide as he mastered the first movement with no difficulty, whatsoever. Had he bones of rubber? It should be harder to get the back arched like that without practice. Following his movements with her arms crossed, she noticed that while there were a few miscounted steps, most of the movements themselves were perfect. How could someone so immature be able to master this much? It made no sense. She had been dancing for years, and it took her at least a day to master the second page. He had looked it over for only a few seconds.

“Alright!” Ishilly stated, breaking Nami’s focus on him, and having him stand upright again.

“What?” he asked, “Did I look stupid?”

_ Look stupid? _ Nami repeated in her head,  _ How the hell could someone look stupid when they mastered the dance? The movements were near a perfect flow. He was a prodigy. What dance did he say he did? He must have been lying if he never took ballet before. _ Though, she did remember that he had said he had danced with her a few times at his place. He was probably mistaking her for someone else, but he must have practiced with someone for sure.

“I wanna see how you compare to our top dancer, do you mind doing pages five through six with her?” Ishilly asked, handing the papers to Luffy.

“So I didn’t look stupid?” he asked, taking the papers, “Usopp always says I look stupid.” he looked over Ishilly to Nami, “Nami, did I look stupid?”

“No, you looked great,” Ishilly smiled, answering his question before Nami could, “but these pages are the ones that we really need her partner for. She hasn’t done them with a worthy partner yet, seeing as our dancers aren’t qualified for lifting yet.” she gestured to the two guys mixed in with the group of girls in tight sweats and tank tops.

“Wait!” Nami exclaimed, coming up to them, “I never agreed to this!”

“Nami,” Ishilly smiled, “he’s a natural, you saw it, too, right?”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“I think we should do these pages with him, and if he’s better than the guys we have, I think he’d be the perfect fit for your partner.” Ishilly explained, “you want to look over the movements again? It’s been a week since we had done those because of the lack of guys.”

“Fine.” She mumbled, swiping the papers from Luffy’s hands and marching her way over to the bench she had left her duffle bag at.

“Hey!” Luffy exclaimed, following her over, “I wasn’t done looking at the pictures!”

“Do you have some sort of photographic memory or something?” Nami asked, plopping herself on the bench between her duffle bag and another dancer’s.

“No, what’s that?” he asked, picking up the dancer’s bag and placing it on the floor, “Can I look at them, too?”

“How the hell were you able to master those movements so quickly?” she slammed the papers into his chest.

“I’ve seen you do them before,” Luffy mumbled, “they aren’t really that hard.”

“Not that hard?” Nami repeated, “then I’m gonna show you just how  _ hard _ this dance is.”

“Okay!” he smiled, and scooted closer to her to look at the papers in her lap.

“Back up.”

“But then I can’t see them,” he murmured, leaning in closer, so his hair brushed her shoulder as he looked down at the papers.

She sighed, seeing as it was useless to try and argue with him, she only had one set of the papers. Sure, she had already memorized them, but she needed to look them over a couple times, and he didn’t know them at all. She focused her attention back to the papers. After reading through the steps, she began to flip the page, when he stopped her, pushing the paper back down.

“I don’t get it.” he stated, his eyes staring at the paper.

“It’s alright to just leave, you know.” Nami sighed, beginning to flip the page again.

“No, no, no,” he shook his head, his hair brushing her shoulder again, “I’m not gonna leave, I already told you that. I don’t get why this one’s a movement.” he pointed to one of the steps.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that one, cause I’m the only one who does that.” she sighed and flipped the page, this time he let her.

He sat up straight, “I see,” he slammed a fist into his palm, “that makes sense. So what do I do?” he looked back down at the papers, before turning his head to face her.

“Well, you catch me.” she sighed, and pointed to the first movement on the page she had flipped to.

He looked down, “But,” he began but before he continued, he grabbed the papers from her and stared down at them, “If I do that, then how are you supposed to get down?”

She pushed them down from his face, and into his lap, and flipped the page, “That’s the thing,” she sighed, “I don’t get down til here, when you’d drop and catch me. I’ll be dancing in your arms for a bit before then.”

“I see.” he murmured, “but how are you supposed to do that?”

“All the steps are right here,” she sighed, flipping the page back, to the part they were currently looking over.

“Okay,” he nodded, “Then my part’s easy.”

“Yeah,” she sighed, before lifting up his wrist, it was just a bit larger than her own, probably by half an inch or so, “but can you even do it?”

He looked up at his wrist in her hand before glancing over to her, and pulling himself free, “Yeah, why?”

“I mean,” she sighed, and poked his bicep, “do you have the strength to hold me in the air for that long?”

“I’ve lifted Zoro and Sanji up plenty of times,” Luffy sighed, “you’re nothing.”

“I don’t believe it,” Nami sighed, in response, and looked back down at the paper.

“I’m strong,” he remarked.

“Sure, you are,” Nami sighed, and stood up, “I’m ready, how about you?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty easy.” Luffy replied, following her fluid motion.

“I work better when I have music, is it alright with you if I turn that on while we dance?” she asked, pointing to the boombox they had in the corner.

“Yeah,” he answered, and stretched his arms in the air.

“Hey, Ishilly!” Nami called, while placing the CD in the radio, and flipping to the right track. “We’re ready.”

“Alright!” Ishilly responded, and clapped her hands twice for the current rehearsal to take a break for a bit.

“Luffy, you start on that side, ten feet from me,” she stated, not really understanding why she was helping him out, but she didn’t exactly want to look bad either. “Wait two beats, and we’ll begin.”

“‘Kay!” he smiled, and skipped over to his designated starting point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this one is a bit shorter than the other ones, but the next chapter makes up for it!!! Anyway, I don't know if you consider this a cliff hanger, but I do, so... let me be the villain for two seconds!!!
> 
> Muahahahahahahaha! You little naive fool! You had thought that you would actually come to a good ending of the chapter! Haha, what nonsense! You shall never leave my den of cliffs and hangers! Muahahaha! This shall always serve you to understand what it truly means to get immersed in a story! Now hang on forever to that edge, or die, forever accepting that you shall never know the ending of the story!!!! Muahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Whew, finally got that out of my system. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed the latest chapter, as much as I did writing it!


	6. Can I Watch?

**Can I Watch?**

At that moment her nerves kicked in. She was beginning the leap into his arms, as he caught her and lifted her above his head. It would be a fluid motion, it  _ should _ be a fluid motion, clean and precise, however, just as she began to run to him, she was doubting he’d even be able to catch her, even be able to hold her for that length of time she danced in his arms and over his head. But here she was, glancing down his arms as her toes hit the ground a few steps away from leaping, soaring, through the air. She’d hit the ground for sure, with him underneath her. And depending on how far she would get into her leap before his arms failed him, he could end up with his nose pressed into her bosom.

But she couldn’t back down now. This would, should the indecent fall occur, prove to him that he couldn’t be her partner, and thus cause him to leave her alone. With that in mind, her confidence retook control of her body, and she leaped. Though, as soon as she felt his fingers grip into her sides, she glanced down at his flexed muscles, holding her sturdily in the air. Sure, she could see the sweat rolling down his biceps and back into his shirt sleeves or dripping down to the ground, but his arms still looked thin. He still  _ looked _ scrawny, and she was certain he’d drop her. Drop them both, where they’d plummet to the ground, without a sign of grace.

His fingers dug deeper into her sides as she felt herself leaning forward. And while she still didn’t trust his build, she’d trust  _ his _ confidence that he could hold her, more than her own. She curled her torso, so her head was nearly touching his, and gripped onto his forearms. He let go of her waist, so she could lift her legs in the air. It took a  _ lot _ of strength on both her abdomen and her arms, but she could do it. With one knee bent, and both toes pointed, she twisted her body around his arms, so that they were facing opposing directions, by switching her hands on the arms raised to support her.

As soon as they faced the same direction, she slipped her hands to his biceps, which caused their faces to line with each other, though he was looking up to make sure her toes landed on his palms. With her feet steadily planted in his palms, he gripped his fingers around her, and she let go of his arms, and flung herself back up to a standing position above him. Here was where she was the most nervous. Should he, by any chance, lose focus for a split second, or his arms begin the slightest of weariness, she could fall, lose her balance, and fall.

He let go of one leg, and she lifted it, at the same time as one of her arms. And began her simple dance, above him, without moving the leg he held, sturdily, to her great pleasure, in one hand. A simple movement. Raising her leg and arm, and extending them a few times would do the trick, before a quick pirouette, ending in the opposite direction than him, and he’d grip both her feet again, before sliding up her legs to grab a hold of her waist, and bring her down. She’d rest her hands on his shoulders, as she lifted her body in the air behind her, and flip over his head, and land silently on the floor, back to back, before prancing off in different directions to continue the dance.

That’s what was supposed to happen. However, when she brought her leg back down, it hung there for a split second before she felt his palm come up beneath it, and his fingers curl around that one foot. What happened, where was his arm? Where had it gone? She didn’t have much time to think because his hands were suddenly on her thighs, as she felt herself sliding down. By the time he gripped her torso, he had brought his arms down at the same time, and she was staring into his large eyes. He was smiling, as if he had done nothing wrong, but why had he moved his hand? Where was her platform to stand on? She placed her hands on his shoulders, and began to backbend over his head. He let go of her waist, and before she knew it, she could feel his sweating tanktop against her own.

“Alright!” Ishilly cheered, the other dancers behind them did as well, “I think you two can stop now.”

Nami heaved, and turned to face her possible partner, seeing as he didn’t shake the whole time he supported her, “What did you do?”

“Nami, we recorded it, if you want to watch later,” Ishilly smiled, “but we really must be getting on with rehearsal.”

“So, can I stay?” Luffy asked, sliding himself away from the auburn headed girl’s fuming face.

“For now, yes,” Ishilly smiled, “but the person who needs this partner is gonna have to be the one to decide if you can  _ be _ her partner.”

“Makes sense,” Luffy smiled, before turning around and making his way back to the bench he had been sitting at. He was a lot  _ less _ sweaty than herself, and what she had thought she felt her back against. It must have been her own sweat and nerves that made her think that.

She didn’t want to go home. Everyone had already left, save one sleeping idiot on the floor. She had wished he would have left when his friend came to the door, but for some reason that friend never showed up. The sun was nearing the time it would set, but she had the strongest urge not to walk out of that room. Ishilly had the dancer who recorded the dance send the video to her, so that she could make her decision, along with the videos with the other two official members of their little dancing group at the graduate level performing arts center. She sat herself on the bench, her hair up in a messy bun, out of her face, and her shirt tied at her waist, so she could cool off.

The room wasn’t hot, but it wasn’t exactly cool, either, so having to compromise after a long day of dance, like this, was the best option. Sure, she could just walk out of the room, and into the cool hallway, but for some reason, she didn’t feel comfortable leaving someone just sleeping on the studio floor. Why wouldn’t he sleep on the benches? He wasn’t even using anything as a pillow, he was just sprawled across the floor. She sighed, and leaned her back against the wall, thankful that the room on the other side was cooler than this one, so it felt cold to the touch.

Opening her mail app on her phone, the first primary email at the top of the page was from one of the dancers. She clicked on the email, and saw the three videos. Although she was curious about what Luffy did, she decided to watch the other dancer’s videos first. She had gotten too focused on judging the dancers in each video, she didn’t notice Luffy move on the floor, as if uncomfortable. The dancers weren’t bad. That much was certain, but they hesitated when she did the leap, and even then, had to bring her down way too soon. They couldn’t even hold her when she held herself up in the air in a semi-handstand. She let out a long sigh, before clicking on the last video. Luffy’s video.

She pressed her cheek into her hand, and rested her elbow on her knee as she watched the last one. She  _ knew _ he was better than the dancers in their group, but she wasn’t watching it to see how  _ good _ he was, she was watching him to see what he did during the time she was balancing on his hand. He was crossing her path when she felt warmth beside her. She was getting semi-cold, so it wasn’t exactly despised, but she was still hot and sweaty from the time she spent in rehearsal after everyone had already gone.

“Hey, that’s me!” she heard in her ear, and she paused the video and snapped her head over to him in one motion. Had he not backed away when she had paused it, her nose would undoubtedly be near touching his own.

“What are you doing?” she asked, wanting to scooch over because she was hot, but although she wasn’t too keen on him, she didn’t want to seem rude.

“Watching what you’re watching,” he answered, and reached his arm down to press play.

“Hold it,” she announced, swinging her phone away from his reach, “when did you wake up?”

“A few minutes ago, I called you, you didn’t answer, so I wanted to see what you were watching,” he replied, before leaning over to grab at her phone, “so what is it?”

“It’s the dance we did together today,” she answered, and after he relaxed back into his seat, did she bring her arm back to her lap.

“Oooh!” he exclaimed, scooting closer to her, and resting his chin on her shoulder, “Can I see?”

She pushed her head away from his own, and lifted her shoulder, signaling for him to get off her, but he wouldn’t budge, “Fine.” she complied, dropping her focus back to the phone, and pressing play.

A few more steps away from him, before she’d turn and face him. His arm outstretched as if telling her not to go. She bit her nail as she watched, because this was the part that she was the most interested in. What the heck he was doing while keeping her suspended in the air. Her feet hit the floor as she began the elegant run, before leaping up into the air, as she saw his hands grip around her sides. He’s caught her. She moves to a standing position, and that’s where she lost knowledge of what he had been doing.

Nami shot up from her seat as she stared into her phone, surprising Luffy, whose face was suddenly slamming into the bench. What the heck? How’d he do that with such a skinny frame? He was dancing, too. He had done a pirouette at the same time as herself, at the end, but that much she could fathom. Not the fact that when she had leaped, and he caught her, he had extended his height by standing on the points of his toes. The fact that he had lifted the opposite leg than her before her. He had an extremely flexible body for a man, since he had been nearly doing the splits perpendicular to the floor. She hadn’t noticed before, but when she rewinded it a few seconds, he had lifted his leg at the perfect time for when her leg was lifted it appeared in perfect flow with one another.

“Why’d you get up?” he asked, behind her, rubbing his cheek, “I wanted to watch it, too.”

“Shut up,” she replied, holding a palm out to his face as she kept her focus on the screen before her.

He had lowered his arm right before she raised hers, everything was in perfect sync with each other, it surprised her. Was he really this  _ good _ ? Or was he just fooling around? She paused the video and swung her body around to face him. He was about to rise from his seat, but upon her turning around, swung his legs beneath himself, so he sat criss-crossed. He tilted his head at her sudden movement, as if to ask her what’s wrong. She wanted to grab him by the collar, and yell into his face that he shouldn’t be doing things like that in the middle of a dance. But at the same time, she had to admit, it looked better than the dance they were given, and it still applied to the story.

“Did you dance while holding me?” she finally asked.

“Did I?” he repeated, bringing his hand to his chin, as if trying to remember, “When was I holding you?”

“During our dance today,” Nami sighed, “when I leaped? You caught me, and I was supposed to dance in your hands, but did you dance also?”

“Wait!” Luffy snapped, jumping to his feet in a solid motion, and nearly getting into her face, “Was I not supposed to?”

“What?” she asked, taking a step back, so their noses didn’t collide.

“Was I not supposed to dance? I’m sorry, you just said to follow the dance moves, so I did.”

“But you didn’t, for one, and two, those were  _ my _ moves.”

“I’m sorry!” Luffy exclaimed, “are you mad?”

“Mad?” Nami repeated, earning the man to stiffen. What was wrong with him? Does he have some type of trauma with people getting mad at him? Must be difficult. She sighed, “No, I’m not mad, just… surprised, is all.”

“Wait,” he loosened up, and opened his eyes. Had he thought she was going to hit him? “If you're not mad, then…”

“No, I’m not mad,” Nami repeated, “and I think you did a great job, it’s just… how can you hold me on tip-toes, one one foot, with one hand, while dancing, with this” she grabbed his wrists and raised his arms in the air, while gesturing to his body with her eyes, “skinny frame.”

He looked down at himself, before pulling one arm out of her grasp and pointing to her, “And? You’re skinny, too.”

“But I’m not the one holding a girl in the air on one foot, tip-toes, with one hand, while dancing, am I?”

“No, you’re not, that’s me.” Luffy stated.

She grabbed his wrist again, and held his hands to his face, “So how the hell are you able to?”

“Cause I’m strong.” he repeated, backing his face away from her.

“Bullshit!” she exclaimed, “how can someone this thin be that strong?” but there really was no other way to explain his small figure, was there? She was certain there wasn’t.

“I don’t know!” he exclaimed, “I just am, okay?”

The door slid open, to reveal an exhausted green haired man. Nami stared at him as he blinked. His chest heaved as he exhaustedly pointed into the room, one hand resting on the top of three swords by his side. “Lu-ffy.”

The man she nearly had pinned over the bench and against the wall, looked over at him, “Zoro!” he exclaimed, “did you get lost again?”

“No!” The man he called Zoro snapped, standing up straight, “anyway…” he glared over at her, “Even if you claim just met him yesterday, don’t you think it’s a little too soon to take advantage of him like that?”

“Taking advantage?” Nami asked, before looking back at how tightly she was holding Luffy’s wrists, and how far back his back was arched. She let go of his wrists, and he wobbled before standing up straight. “I wasn’t taking advantage of him,  _ sir _ ,” she mocked.

“Nami,” Luffy stated, placing a hand on her shoulder, “Zoro’s just worried, is all.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Nami waved him off her, “I get that, but really, why should I concern myself with some random person who barges into the dance studio, way after everyone else has left?”

“But you’re here, too, you witch!” Zoro snapped back, folding his arms across his broad chest.

“But  _ I _ am a dancer, and I don’t know who the hell you are, so get your sorry little ass out of here, and leave.” Nami sighed.

“You don’t know who Zoro is?” Luffy asked.

“I came in here, earlier today…” Zoro mumbled, before taking a step back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On top of drawing the cover page for this chapter, I decided it'd be a good idea to post the semi-scene that photo on the cover happens. Also...  
> Hehe... a cliff hanger for you... hehe...  
> though, it's only semi that the cover happens in this scene in this chapter, because they are only in their workout wear in this chapter, not the performing outfits...  
> But hey, I wanted to draw a cute ballet scene.  
> (warning: about me: I only took ballet when I was little, so forgive me for not using the proper terms for the dance moves. I have always held a passion for dance though, and so that's why I decided to write this fanfic)  
> Note: I posted the cover {posted in Chapter 1: Who Are You?} and this chapter on the same day.


	7. Who Is He?

**Who Is He?**

“It doesn’t matter if you’ve come here earlier, or not, ‘Zoro.’” Nami sighed, crossing her arms over her chest, “As much as I hate stalkers,” she gestured with her eyes to Luffy, “at least I  _ know _ who he is, unlike you.”

“You do know me!” Luffy smiled, snapping his attention to her.

“Don’t get too high on your horse,” Nami sighed, “I know you more than this guy, who just barges into the studio.”

“Zoro was just looking for me, Nami,” Luffy explained, “ _ and _ I introduced you to Zoro yesterday.”

“ _ Sure _ ,” Nami drawled out, “cause I  _ totally _ remember that.” she swept her duffle bag off the bench, and grabbed her water bottle, “thanks for the help today, Luffy.” she made her way to the door, before stopping and turning back to face him, “But that doesn’t mean I’m friends with you, got it?”

Slamming the door behind her, she heard ‘Zoro’ sigh and say something about how he told him not everyone wants to be his friend. She shrugged, and made the slow walk down the corridor, and to the front doors of the building. She really wasn’t looking forward to heading home. That would be a complete disaster once she got there. She didn’t want to look into his devious face. She didn’t want to see her sister tormented by the abuse she felt. She didn’t want to hear those harsh words pounding into her head about how idiotic her adoptive mother was. They hurt. They always hurt. No matter how many times she tried to push them back, to tell herself that everything was going to be alright, it never worked, the pain was always there. No matter how many times she convinced herself that dancing was her only salvation in life, it never helped, he’d always loom over her.

She stood in front of her car door, shaking with the keys in her hand. She wanted to unlock the car, but couldn’t even press the button so she could get in and drive back to that wretched place that was her home. All she could do was stare down at the keys, and wait for the miracle that she’d appear at home once again. Blacking out, or falling asleep, as she called it, was the only way to get into that vehicle. She tightened the grip of the keys in her hand, and tightly closed her eyes, getting ready to force herself to absently drive back.

“Woah, woah there, Nami,” A relaxed mildly deep voice stopped her from slamming her head against the metal shell of her car. She opened her eyes, and turned to see where the voice was coming from.

A darkly tanned man, with black curly hair pulled back in a ponytail, wearing a pair of low-fitting overalls, and no shirt underneath them, showing his rather lean body, held up his hands as if to stop her. He had large eyes, and an abnormal sized satchel slung across his torso. He made his way up to her, since she didn’t move. He put a hand on the car, as she just watched him, unsure of who this freak was, and why he knew her name. Though, upon further consideration, he could be a fan of the ballet performances, and thus, he would know her name from that, as this wasn’t the first time she had the lead role in the performance.

“What do you want?” she nearly growled.

“I get you're having a bad day,” the man explained, “but beating your head against your car? Really? You know you could always talk to us, right?”

Was he trying to hit on her? She wondered. “Look, I just need to head on home, so if you wouldn’t mind?” she gestured to his hand.

“Nami, Nami, Nami,” the man shrugged, leaning against her car, and raising his hands in the air, “if you keep these kinds of things to yourself, there’s no wonder you're all pent up. You know, many people have come to me for advice. I can give you some, if you’d like? I think the last time I gave someone advice was just about five minutes ago. And you know what? They said it helped them out plenty! After all, they don’t call me Usopp-the-Advisor for nothing, you know.”

_ Usopp, his name is Usopp _ , Nami thought to herself, before smiling, gently, “I appreciate the sentiment, but seriously, I really have to get going.”

He stood up straight, eyes wide, “So you're just going to leave, like you did before? You know Luffy didn’t save you so that you’d always keep to yourself, right?”

_ Luffy, again? Does he know everyone? _ “How sweet, but, I’m sorry, I don’t know who you’re talking about.” she lied.

“Oh, come on, Nami,” Usopp sighed in annoyance, “I get that I lie all the time, but this is no time to joke around. I’m being serious here.”

“I get that,” She replied, “but that still doesn’t mean I know who you're talking about. All your giving me is a name.”

“A name?” he repeated, “Nami! Are you serious!” he slammed his hand against her car, “after all he did you're just going to pretend he doesn’t exist?”

“I’m not pretending he doesn’t exist,” she sighed, “I just don’t know the person you're talking about.”

“Luffy! You know Luffy! He saved you! How could you forget such a moment like that! It wasn’t even easy! He came out all scarred and bloody, and you’re just going to pretend all of that didn’t even happen! You’re just going to pretend that he didn’t risk his very  _ life _ for you! Nami! I can’t believe you!” he fumed.

“I told you, I’m not pretending it didn’t happen, but don’t you think if something like that happened even the most forgetful person would remember?” she sighed, “besides, you told me you lied all the time, how am I supposed to know you’re not lying right now?”

“I’m not!” Usopp exclaimed.

“Look, Usopp,” Nami smiled, “could you get your hand off my car so I can go home? I’m going to be back late.”

“No, Nami!” Usopp demanded, slamming his other hand onto her car, “I’m not letting you go just yet!”

“Usopp!” a higher pitched male voice rang through the parking lot, causing both parties to look in its direction. A dark haired kid, and a man a few inches taller than him with green hair stood a few yards away.

“Luffy?” Usopp asked, as the man came closer, “what are you doing here so late? I get Zoro, but…”

“Let her go, Usopp.” Luffy commanded, causing both of the hands on her vehicle to lift up, but placed back down, fervently.

“Luffy, I can’t do that. She’s saying she doesn’t know who you are, and that you didn’t sa-” the shorter man, though only by half an inch or so, cut him off.

“And?” he sighed, “if that’s what she says, it’s fine.” Luffy stated, causing both hers and this stranger’s eyes to go a little wide, his more than her own.

“But Luffy, she’s lying. I saw with my own eyes what you did. I was there, too. And Zoro! And that blond cook guy! We were all there!” Usopp exclaimed, raising one hand in the air.

“Usopp!” Luffy yelled, “let it go! I know all of that already. If she says it didn’t happen, it didn’t happen, okay?”

“But Luffy, it did happen!” Usopp exclaimed, grabbing the shorter man’s wrist, and pulling him closer, “Nami!” he yelled, directing his attention to the strawberry blond.

“Usopp, let go.” Luffy commanded, though it went unnoticed.

“This is the man!” Usopp stated, moving his hand from Luffy’s wrist to grab his chin, keeping the other hand on the vehicle.

“Usopp.”

“I’ve seen him around,” Nami admitted, “but how does just seeing him prove your point?”

“He’s the one that saved you from that bastard Ar-”

Luffy slammed a hand to the darker man’s mouth, successfully getting the grip on his chin to drop, “She says it didn’t happen, Usopp. So it didn’t happen.”

Nami stared at the interaction, it appeared more like they were hiding something from her, but she remembered none of what Usopp was saying. As the hand on her vehicle was retracted, she watched the wide grin that the man she had danced with earlier that day gave her. His eyes were sad though, as if it pained him to just smile something off like that. Her hand hovered over the handle of her car door, as she watched Usopp, Zoro, and Luffy walk away. Why did she have an urge to stop them? Instead of moving her legs toward him, as she saw the frowning brow of Zoro as he looked down at him. The shy smile of Usopp as he shamefully looked away. She couldn’t see him though. She couldn’t see what his reaction was. Zoro’s hand rubbing his back, and Usopp’s patting his head was all she needed to know that he was crying.

“Wai-” she began, but never finished. She hung her head, as she slipped into her vehicle. Who was she to call out to someone? Who was she to help someone, when she herself was in a puddle of messes?

Her drive back was quiet, as she stared at the water droplets being wiped off her windshield. Why did she want to see the man who knew more about her than herself? Why did she so desperately want to grab him away from the strong arms of his green haired friend, and the caring pat of the curly haired one, and pull him into a comforting hug? She didn’t know what had happened to him, she didn’t know why he was so sad, and upset, but she wanted to help. She  _ wanted _ to tell him everything was going to be okay, but she had no proof to back that up. After all, she was in a disaster herself, she had kept telling herself, since her younger years, that everything was going to be okay. That she was going to make it out. But none of that happened. She had no savior from the wretched life she lived. She was confined to the depression that awaited behind the big doors of the place she lived.

Her vehicle pulled into the driveway of her house, and she saw her sister in the window cleaning off oranges.  _ His _ car wasn’t here, so that meant that he wasn’t home, right? She got out of her car, and made her way to the front door. Her sister smiled as she walked into the kitchen to steal an orange from the bowl they were being placed in.

“How was dance today?” her sister asked, picking up another orange to peel.

“Same as usual,” Nami sighed, before popping the orange slice into her mouth.

“Oh come on,” her sister, Nojiko, teased, “I remember your friends mentioning something about needing a partner, did you get one today?”

“Nojiko,” Nami sighed, “could you please stop using the word ‘friends’ when trying to get information out of me?”

“But I did hear it-” Nojiko began to defend herself but was abruptly cut off.

“Well, there was this kid named Luffy who surprised me with his dancing skills.” Nami stated, pulling her phone from her pocket.

“I’m not surprised, I mean you did pester him to practice with you on many occasions.” Nojiko smiled, taking the phone from her younger sister, to see the video that was pulled up.

“I don’t know what you're talking about,” she shrugged, and grabbed another orange slice from the bowl, “that bastard isn’t here right now.”

“Nami,” the older of the sisters stated, pausing the video.

“What?”

“Do you really not remember him?”

“Undoubtedly.”

“I guess it’s not getting any better then.” Nojiko sighed, and pulled the bowl of oranges away from her sister, and off the table.

“What’s not getting any better?” Nami asked, hand raised reaching for the bowl that had already been pulled from her.

“Nothing, nothing.” Nojiko hummed, handing the phone back.

“I’ll be in my room,” she sighed, standing from the table, “let me know when  _ he _ gets here.”

Without waiting for her sister’s confirmation, she left the kitchen, and made her way down the small hallway to the bedroom she hid away in. All of her furniture was pushed against the wall so she had maximum space to practice dancing, though, after watching that video, she didn’t have the strength to even do a pirouette. She collapsed herself back-first onto her bed, and pulled out her phone, and looked at the spot her sister had paused on. Did she really have to pause right there? She didn’t even know the guy, and someone could easily mistake that moment for them kissing, had she not been the one who was dancing.  _ This _ was one of the reasons she didn’t want to do it with him. Out of all of the people she could choose to dance with, she wanted it to be someone she knew, because flipping yourself from laying on someone’s hands to standing on them, was not an easy feat, and it didn’t help that their faces got that close.

Besides, he had some strange friends. There was that Zoro guy who Luffy claims she met before, and the way he worded things, he claims to have met her before, but she hadn’t. Then there was his other friend, who had curly black hair and a long nose. He really liked to peak behind the curtains of someone else’s life. He was claiming things she knew never happened. He was a great dancer, that much she was certain, but he was just so strange. He had that smile that seemed to be etched into his face. She had rarely seen him without it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Confusing? Confused? Yep. I understand. This really should be called 'confused yet?' but this title fits better. ANYWAY!  
> enjoy a nice cliff-hanger until I finish the next chapter!!!! You're welcome!


	8. Have We Met?

**Have We Met?**

Her eyes stared up at the ceiling as the rising sun shined through her window. It was early, but she hadn’t gotten any extra steps in the night before. She slid herself out of her bed, confidence, etching through her being. While still in her pajamas, she placed a delicate foot against the ground, and stretched her back leg up, to wake up her morning muscles. If stretching was enough, then she’d be fine, but something about dance was aching for her to do the first few steps of her number. Had her room been larger, she would have gone through the whole first number of the show. However, not being able to do her leaps and move about on what the stage would be, she was liable just to the least moving steps.

Her sister was already up, making an orange smoothie for breakfast, she could smell the ripe oranges as they were placed within the blender. It had enough energy to get her started on her day, so she decided to do a few more steps before getting dressed in her exercise attire, before going down. Even though they weren’t meeting today, she was grateful that the arts center was still open on the weekends. She’d be able to do a whole lot more dancing there than she ever could here, besides, it’d help her get out of the house. Her sister was going to one of the orchards in the country, so she didn’t have to worry about her getting caught up in Arlong’s disastrous mess. She could only hope that she would never have to see her older sister suffer in the same way she had.

The dance studio doors were probably locked, so she borrowed a pair of the keys from the front desk of the center, and made her way down the hall to the place she spent most of her time. It was nice, being able to dance away her troubles. Unlocking the door, she slid it open to be met by the precious morning sunlight shining through the windows on the far end of the studio. The floor perfectly reflects that golden light, and the mirrors aching to reflect it back. Perfectly cleaned from the janitors of the arts center, not a thing out of place.

“Nami!” a cheerful voice rang behind her as she felt an extra weight on her shoulders.

“Don’t just jump on her like that.” a deeper voice was heard directly after.

She turned her head to see a frowning, yet cheerful black haired boy leaning over her shoulders. Behind him was a green haired man, who strangely had three swords attached to his hip. She could have sworn no one was behind her when she entered, but then again, they could have come from the opposing direction, or from another room. No car was in the parking lot other than her own, and at the very back the employees and instructors of the center, and unless they had come with an instructor - these two didn’t look like the type that would teach someone else - they probably had arrived just after her.

“Hi…” she answered, trying to rack her brain for the names of these people that she couldn’t recall ever meeting. Stalkers? Why did she have a strong sense of deja vu?

“So, Nami, did you finish watching it? Was I that bad? Is that why you're acting like you don’t know me? How are you? You coming with us to meet Sanji again? Usopp’s coming this time. Oh, and I think Robin said she’d come. You’ve been close with Robin, right? Brook said he’s gotta write something, so you’ll have to meet him later. I wish I could just introduce all my friends to all of my friends at once. Do you know how I could do that? You’re smart, right? Zoro says I’m an idiot. You don’t think I am right?” the boy leaning against her shoulder laughed.

“Woah, slow down, idiot, it’s not like she’ll understand you if you talk that fast. Look at her face, obviously she doesn’t want to be your friend, stop pestering her.” the green haired man behind him sighed.

“Zoro, you’re funny, Nami and I  _ are _ friends, I met her a long time ago. After you, of course.” he laughed.

Nami shrugged herself out of his grasp, “Sorry to break it to you,” she sighed, and turned to face him, “but I didn’t catch any of what you just said.”

The boy blinked. He had a crescent shaped scar under his left eye, and very large eyes. His hair was messy, almost like he had just rolled out of bed, but straight nonetheless. “I have to say it all again?” he asked, before turning to the man behind him, “Zoro, what did I say? I don’t remember.”

“Don’t look at me, it’s not like  _ I _ could catch  _ everything _ you said. Though, you did say something about Sanji, and Robin, and Brook.”

“Oh!” the boy slammed his fist into his palm. There was no way this kid was graduate level. He was an idiot. “Nami, are you coming with us to Sanji’s place? Robin said she might come, Brook can’t, though. You know Robin, right? I want to introduce you to all of my friends,” he turned to the man behind him, who Nami figured was Zoro, “you too, Zoro.”

She sighed, she felt deja vu, and decided to change what she felt was going to happen next, she hated having to repeat history, “Sorry, but, unfortunately, it seems you have the wrong person.”

“Wrong person?” the two people in front of her said simultaneously.

They had a point. She was one of, if not, the only person who had strawberry blond hair, who also happens to be in dance. “Robin? Who’s Robin?” Nami asked, trying to get her point across.

“Oh, I guess you haven’t met Robin,” the black haired kid stated, “though, I thought you were with me when we ran into Vivi and Robin…” he mumbled, “Oh well, it’s like that thing Usopp was saying, I guess.” he shrugged his shoulders, “Alright! I’m Luffy, and this is Zoro, you’re coming with us to meet Sanji and Usopp later, okay.”

_ He introduced himself _ , she thought to herself,  _ so he  _ did _ get the wrong person, and he’s not just some stalker _ .

“I thought you said you guys were friends?” the man he introduced as Zoro whispered into his ear.

“She’s saying she doesn’t remember,” he shrugged his shoulders, “remember yesterday? And the day before? She said she didn’t remember me then, either.” he whispered back.

_ I can hear you, you know _ , Nami sighed, “I don’t think I can go anywhere tonight.”

“Oh!” Luffy slammed his fist into his palm again, “it’s about the orange-girl, right?”

“Orange girl?” Nami repeated.

“I  _ think _ he’s talking about a blue haired girl with a tattoo going down her right arm.” Zoro explained, “she picks oranges, and had given him one, once.”

“Yeah, yeah, her. You seem close with her.” Luffy exclaimed, pointing his finger to Zoro.

_ They  _ are _ stalkers. They know about my sister? _ “Nojiko?” Nami asked.

“Yep! That’s her!” he jumped, landing his hands on her shoulders, “she said it was fine, so don’t worry! She called Sanji earlier, or Sanji called her….” he tilted his head as if trying to remember.

“It’s not about Nojiko.” Nami sighed, and pushed his hands off of her, “how do you even know her, anyway?”

“We met a while ago, remember?” Luffy replied, as a strong hand from the man behind him gripped his shoulder.

“Luffy,  _ it didn’t happen _ , remember?” Zoro whispered harshly into the kid’s ear.

The black haired kid’s eyes widened, and he snapped his head to Zoro for a split second, before turning back to Nami, he puckered his lips to the side, and looked away from her, trying to whistle, “I mean… we ran into her yesterday.”

Even if he  _ was _ telling the truth, the man behind him practically slammed his face against a wall, and Nojiko had been home all day yesterday. “O...kay,” Nami sighed, “let’s  _ say _ I believe you for now, what is a kid like you even doing here?”

“A kid like… me?” he repeated, his face instantly going back to normal, “Hey! Wait a second! I’m not a kid!”

“Oh really?” Nami asked, crossing her arms, “Whatever the case,  _ teenager _ , I have to finish my dance, so could you  _ please _ stop skipping school?”

“Skipping school?” Luffy repeated her words again, “I’m not skipping school anymore!” She raised a brow at him, and he continued, “I came here, because I wanted to. Besides, Zoro’s got some ken-blow with Mihawk, and Robin’s working on something upstairs. Franky’s busy, and Usopp hates it here. Chopper’s at the hospital, and Sanji’s cooking. He won’t let me in for some reason-”

“That’s because you eat all the food.” Zoro interrupted, but it went unnoticed.

“-Jinbei had to go meet with someone’s big mom, so obviously, I’m gonna come here to hang out with you.” Luffy finished.

“As intriguing as that sounds,” Nami began before beginning to slide the door shut, “I don’t know you, so it’s a no. Go back home to your mommy, okay.”

Luffy blinked as the door closed in front of him. Nami sighed, no more deja vu today. She had enough. Grabbing her bag she made her way over to the bench, so she could put her slippers on. She had just  _ met _ this guy, and he was telling her a whole bunch of stuff, that she deemed unimportant. As she took off her shoes, the door slid open, slamming against the frame.

“Wait a second!” Luffy exclaimed, Zoro rolled his eyes and pointed off somewhere, as if to say he was leaving.

“What?” Nami coughed out.

“That’s not what I was going to ask you!” He marched over to her, “I wanted to know about the whole partner thing, cause I think it’d be fun. Also, you coming with us to Sanji’s?”

“I already answered that question, and it’s a no. What partner thing are you talking about?”  _ surely he doesn’t mean being my partner for the dance _ .

“Yesterday that girl had me dance with ya. We were watching the video before Zoro showed up…  _ That _ partner thing.” Luffy tried explaining.

“Doesn’t ring a bell, sorry.” Nami answered, turning her attention back to her shoes.

“Yeah it does!” he grabbed her phone that she had taken out of her pocket when she sat down.

“Hey, don’t just take someone else’s phone!” Nami announced, snapping to a standing position to grab her phone from him.

“Hold on, a sec!” he answered, turning away from her.

“Give me my phone back, kid!” she grabbed at his shoulder, but he took a few steps from her.

“I said to wait a sec!” he stated, before turning around, and holding her phone up horizontally, the screen facing her, “ _ This _ video!”

“How’d you get into my phone?”

He shrugged his shoulders, and looked away from her, trying to whistle, “I don’t know.”

_ He really can’t lie to save his life _ . She snatched her phone away from him, and looked down at the screen. Blinking, she looked back up at him, as he still held the face that told everyone he was lying. She looked back down at her phone, “I don’t get it.”

“Huh?” he leaned forward, to look at the screen, “What don’t you get? The video’s right there.” he looked back up at her.

His eyes were very big, and curious, if she had to describe them. He had a really round face, and the scar under his eye was at a slightly different level then the rest of his skin. The stitches must not have been done right, because upon further inspection, it was clearly a railroad scar. His black hair was rather messy, yet also decently fluffy looking. He had a rather small nose that swept to a round point, water would just slide right off it. He blinked, waiting for her to answer him.

“What don’t you get?” he repeated.

She lightly shook her head before turning her attention back down to the video, “You’re right there in the video, and it clearly isn’t edited, so how come I don’t remember this happening at all?”

“At all?” he stood back up straight, “Yesterday you didn’t remember Zoro, you didn’t remember Usopp, or what happened back in Coconuts, and you didn’t remember me, either. Now you don’t remember  _ any _ of it? What  _ do _ you remember? Orange-girl? Pin-wheel-guy? Arlong?”

Her eyes widened at the name.  _ How did he know  _ I _ know Arlong? I knew he was less than popular, but it wasn’t a surprise if people knew his name, but to know  _ I _ know him? _ Nami took a breath in, before snapping her head to face him, his eyes widened in fear, and he slammed his hands together apologetically, before bowing his head. In the multitude of ‘I’m sorry, please don’t hit me!’s that were coming out of his mouth she placed a hand on his shoulder, freezing him.

“Who is Arlong?” she asked, tightening her grip on his shoulder.

He raised his head to look at her, “You don’t remember him, either?” he asked.

“That’s not it,” she sighed, before bending herself down so she was eye-level with him, “I want to know who  _ you _ think he is.”

“Oh.” his eyes widened slightly, before his brows furrowed, “he’s the bastard that hurt you.”

_ ‘That bastard that hurt you’ as if you know me. _ “And? What is he to  _ you _ ? How do you know I’m affiliated with him?” Nami asked, her brows furrowing, and her grip on his shoulder tightening.

“Ow, Nami stop, that hurts.” he reached, a hand up to grab her hand, but she pressed tighter.

“How do you know I’m affiliated with him?” she repeated.

“Ow! Namiiii-” he whined, “I can’t tell you!”

“And why is that?” she asked, bringing her other hand, her phone now in her pocket, to squeeze his other shoulder.

“Namiiii!” he whined, “Stooop! It hurts!” he pawed his hands at her wrists, but hesitated to pull them off him, as if scared of something far worse happening if he did.

“Luffy!” she snapped, pressing her forehead harshly against his so that he’d look at her, “I’m not going to let go until you tell me.”

“Please stop!” he whined, trying to straighten his back to get away from her, but slouching each time back to the position he was in.

“Fine,” she loosened her grip somewhat, and he stopped squirming, “Now tell me, how do you know I’m affiliated with Arlong?”

He looked into her eyes, and blinked, she could feel the light wind from his lashes against her cheek, “But that’s what Usopp was trying to tell you yesterday, and you said it didn’t happen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The questions keep rising, and I love it! I love this! I love the fact that I've already finished eight chapters, and barely anything is known, and its so stressful for both the readers and Nami. I love it.  
> You're welcome for the cliff-hanger, again.


	9. Am I Okay?

**Am I Okay?**

“What?” she asked, letting go of him, and standing up straight, “Who’s Usopp?”

Catching his balance, he straightened his back, and took a step back from her, “Hmm.” he hummed, “Alright! I don’t know who Arlong is.” he lied, puckering his lips to the side, while trying to maintain eye contact with her, but his eyes were fleeting.

“Who’s Usopp?” Nami asked, again, ignoring his obvious lie.

“He’s my friend,” he answered, with a smile, before frowning, and coming closer to her, “Nami, are you okay?”

“Why should I answer that?” she retorted.

“You aren’t acting like Nami, Nami.” he answered, “what happened?”

_ ‘Are you okay? What happened?’ What do you want from me? That Arlong has terrorized my life since what feels like forever? No, I’m not okay. I want to cry, but I won’t. I won’t let him know how weak I am. I- _

He interrupted her thoughts, “Nami, I’ll beat up whoever hurt you.”

_ Will you though? Can you? _ She let out a laugh, “How do you even know if I am troubling right now anyway? I might have been having the best time of my life, until you showed up.”

Luffy sighed, “Alright.” he began to walk out of the room, before turning at the door, “I’m your partner for the dance.”

The door slid open, and closed behind him. He was gone. Like he could just decide things like that. He was an idiot. He was delusional. He had no knowledge of anything, he even admitted himself that he never attended school. The poor kid, thinking he can accomplish so much in the world even though he’s just a child. And yet…

And yet, why was it that she didn’t want him to leave? Why was it that the words he asked her struck her so much more than she had thought they would.  _ Sure _ , people have asked her that question before, people have tried to know about it before, but why was it that this time it had struck so much more deeply than it had ever gone before? She wanted to know. Why was it that he kept saying things that she knew he shouldn’t have known. Why was it that he didn’t feel like a stalker, though she kept calling him one? Why was it that she felt like there was a big part of herself that had just disappeared each time he appeared before her? Why did she want him to explain everything that was missing in her life? Why did he keep mentioning things like she had forgotten that too? Why was it that she wanted to spend more time with him?

She didn’t even know him, and yet, she had wanted to tell him everything that was bothering her. She wanted to tell him about what Arlong had done to her mother, to her sister, to everyone she had once held dear. She wanted him to listen to her, she wanted to have somebody that wasn’t under Arlong’s threat to listen to her wails and her sorrows. She had been holding in her tears for far too long, she wanted to grab a hold of him and bury her face in his shoulder and mourn all of her sorrows upon him.

_ No _ , she turned to the door,  _ I don’t want to be left alone to bear this anymore. _ She knew he was gone. She knew he had already left to go find his friend. She knew he wasn’t sitting there at the door when she slid it open to see the empty hallway. She knew it was just wishful thinking that someone would actually care that much about her.  _ Screw it, I have to do it alone, it’s the only way to make sure everyone else doesn’t suffer like me _ .

“Early as usual.” Ishilly’s voice rang to her ears, and she looked up to see the dark haired leader of their dance team coming up with two other dancers. “You looked over the video, right? What do you think?”

“Oh, the video, um, yeah, let’s go with that.” Nami answered, turning back into the room.

“So go with Mr. I’ve-Never-Done-This-Before, then?” Ishilly giggled, “you seemed quite comfortable in his grasp. So where is he?”

“What?”

“You’re friend, Luffy, where is he?”

“Luffy.” Nami repeated, as she looked back out the door.

“A lover’s quarrel?” Ishilly asked, in a teasing manner.

“Ah, no.” Nami smiled, “I was just thinking about our last conversation.”

“A lover’s quarrel.” the two other dancers nodded simultaneously.

“No,” Nami sighed, “I don’t even know him,” she turned her attention back to Ishilly, “it seems he’s decided on his own.”

“Decided what on his own?” a light-hearted voice echoed off the walls, and the girls turned their attention to a boy in high school uniform and chestnut brown hair, curling at his ears. He wore a blue baseball cap, and had a blue backpack on his back.

“Hello,” Nami smiled, at his round cheeks, “What brings you all the way to the Performing Arts Center?”

“I’m looking for someone named Luffy, he said he was going to hang with a girl named Nami today. She’s a dancer.” the teen explained, hiding half his face behind the door, “are they here?”

“Luffy? Again?” Nami asked, rolling her eyes, “how many times am I going to hear his name today?”

“Have you seen  _ him _ then?” the boy asked.

“No.” Nami lied.

“Chopper!” a hyper voice she hated hearing bounced off the walls as it came closer, he must be running, the teen was suddenly shot away along with the person she could only assume was Luffy.

“Luffy!” the teen yelled in partial annoyance and gratitude upon seeing who he called his friend.

The two made their way back to the dance studio, the taller one, by a good head, leading the brunette into the room. The teen in the cap looked hesitant, and slightly pulled at his friend’s grip upon entering the room. The small cries of protest went by unnoticed by the one they were directed toward. Luffy held a wide grin on his face as he pulled his supposedly younger friend next to him as they came face to face with Nami’s scowling face.

“Chopper, this is Nami!” he said excitedly, “she’s awesome!”

“But she said she didn’t know you,” the boy, she figured was Chopper, stated the fact.

“I know, but she does.” Luffy replied, before poking Nami’s head, “I just don’t think she remembers now.”

“Amnesia!” Chopper exclaimed, before grabbing Nami’s wrists, “That’s not good, how did this happen, did you fall? How far back can you remember? What year is it?”

“See,” Luffy smiled, as if he had just won a battle, “I told ya, Chopper’d help.” he turned his attention to the smaller man, “I thought you were at the hospital though.”

“I took the night shift, because of school, remember?” Chopper explained, before turning his full attention back to Nami.

Luffy giggled, “Nope!”

“I don’t get it.” Chopper announced, turning back to Luffy after a few minutes. Nami had awkwardly stood there as he examined her, and asked her questions, none of which she could answer to the extent helped in his examinations.

“Don’t get what?” Nami and Luffy asked simultaneously, she sent him a glare which went by unnoticed by the receiver.

“She seems fine.” Chopper announced, which made Nami smile proudly, though Luffy’s reaction was something she didn’t expect for him.

He was silent. He didn’t say anything. Instead, he gave Nami a smile that said ‘I’m sorry,’ and walked out of the room, Chopper trailing behind like a lost duckling. Why that reaction? It didn’t make much sense, and yet, it fit with everything that he had been telling her up until now. Almost as if he had already known something was wrong.

“Wait!” Ishilly called out the door, her hand on the frame as she looked down the hall to them. Nami turned away, unwilling to hear his response to the question she knew was being asked.

As much as watching the video proved he was such a great dancer, she had no recollection of that happening, and thus, no trust in his abilities to lift her in the air. She sighed, as she made her way back to the bench to put on her slippers. Dancing was easy. It was an easy way to disappear from the world of chaos and be born into a world of peace and harmony, no matter the number she was dancing.

Without counting in, and waiting for the other dancers, she stretched her legs, and arms, before bending over to touch her toes, and begin her first number. Lifting herself on tiptoes, she made her way elegantly, in small miniscule steps to the center of the room, before she pointed one foot out, and elegantly shaped her arms in a stretched crescent. Her thoughts flew out of her head as she engulfed herself in her dance. Her feet moved by themselves as she landed each and every step correctly in the first number. Beautiful. She was proud of her work. She had been aching to get that last pose down, and she finally got it. She finally was able to lift her leg at the right time, at the right height, with the right angle, and hold it for the right amount of beats. It was the perfect ending to her first number.

She hadn’t been able to achieve something like that since…  _ since when? _ She knew she had been in other shows, other performances, and that she was the lead, but why was it she couldn’t remember a single rehearsal for those entire shows? Or the performance itself? Just the aftermath? Why was it she got a headache in thinking of those shows? She dropped her pose, and grabbed her head. It hurt. The pain soaring through her mind, and behind her eyes. It hurt. One hand supported herself on the floor, as the other grabbed against her forehead.

_ I’m fine. I can do this. This is  _ normal _ for me. Nothing is wrong. Just get back up, I’ll be fine. _ Nami thought to herself as she felt Ishilly’s caring hands rub up and down her back, and the faintest of words calling for water. Her focus blurred as she watched the ballet slippers leave the room in such a hurry. The knees bending down to her, as blond hair swept forward, the girl rubbing her head in a gentle motion. What was wrong, she had thought she was fine. Nothing wrong had happened in her dancing until… until when? Why had she had those sudden thoughts? What were the thoughts she had been thinking? Why was she so worried in the first place? It was just a simple migrain. She must not have had enough water earlier.

The dancer came back with the water, and Nami accepted it gratefully, before gulping down it’s cold, tasteless, clear liquid. Refreshed. She could dance now without any problems or worries. Arlong wasn’t here at the studio in the arts center, she didn’t have to worry about him thrusting her head against a wall for not finishing the tasks he assigned her. Everything was as it should be. Dancing her troubles away was the best way to get rid of stress, and keep her sister safe. After all, there was no one that she could turn to for help in this, even if she could do so in the first place.

It had happened before, one that was way worse than this one. Ishilly was concerned, knowing how much pain the lead dancer was in, and had tried to comfort her. Told her to take the day off. Nami remembered this much, but she didn’t exactly know why she had the migraines in the first place. She was healthy, she was certain of that. Nojiko had told her she should go to the hospital, but none of the doctors could find anything wrong with her. Who could? A prodigy ahead of his time, maybe, but that was wishful thinking. She got to her feet, with a kind smile, and restarted the dance number. No migraine was going to stop her from dancing.

They were all in perfect harmony with one another. Leaping at the same time, spinning at the same time, it was beautiful. They were proud, and Nami was certain they’d be able to perform when the date hit. There was only one problem, and that proved to be a very major hindrance in their performance, they needed at least one more guy. Nami’s partner. Someone who was able to do lifts. Someone who was flexible. Yet, they didn’t have anyone. No one crossed her mind that could possibly be able to do it.

“What about Luffy?” Ishilly asked, as they had settled for a break.

“Luffy?” Nami repeated, with a raised brow.

“He was astounding, when dancing with you a few days ago, I think he would be perfect. I haven’t seen him around much though.” she explained.

“Yeah,” Nami smiled, “you must have been dreaming, Ishilly.”

“Your head is bothering you again?” Ishilly teased, “Dreaming or not, I think he was perfect. His flexibility had no bounds, and, despite his lean build, he was rather strong, and  _ knew _ what to do.”

“As much as I would love to agree with you, I don’t know anyone named Luffy.” Nami replied.

“At least, that’s what I thought he said his name was.” the dark haired girl thought to herself aloud, “you watched the video I sent you, right?”

“Yeah, I watched them.” Nami replied.

“The third one, I think we should contact him, he’d be perfect.”

Nami sighed, “Probably,” whipping out her phone to watch the video for the tenth time that week, “though I don’t know where to find him. He doesn’t really stand out, you know?”

“His friends do.” Ishilly smiled, “I had seen him with that green haired friend that interrupted our rehearsal when you two danced, and he was with a long nosed man, too.”

“So, you think you could find him?” Nami asked.

“Probably, but,” Ishilly jumped up, signaling that break was over, “since you’d be his partner, I think you should contact him. The green haired friend of his, is in the kendo, and fencing clubs here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if things have been kinda repetitive, in the recent chapters, but, in a sense, those can all be counted as the prologue to the story. NOW is when the real story happens!
> 
> If you haven't notice, if you read my fics, my stories tend to follow a general rule of thumb: The prologue lasts quite a few chapters before the real story starts. It's all fluff till then. No juicy meat to bite into. SO, I thank all of you who continue reading up to this point! It's very helpful for my story writing!
> 
> Enjoy this cliff-hanger til I update again!!! Thanks!  
> LissyArt OUT!

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure how I quite feel about this one, but I have a good idea on where this could go, so I hope you wouldn't mind liking this one???


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